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posted by takyon on Thursday December 06 2018, @11:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the fingered dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

iOS apps used Touch ID feature to trick users into paying hefty fees

Apple's App Store has given the boot to two highly rated apps that abused the iOS Touch ID feature in an attempt to swindle users out of sums of more than $100, users on Reddit reported over the weekend.

The offending "Fitness Balance app" and "Calories Tracker app" promised to calculate body mass index, monitor calorie intake, and provide other health-related services. With no advanced warning, according to Reddit posts here and here, the apps charged users fees of $99.99, $119, or 139 Euros, depending on the country of the user. Users who had a credit or debit card connected to their Apple account were immediately billed.

The scam worked by displaying a message as soon as the app was opened. It told users to scan their fingerprint to view a calorie tracker or receive another personal service. When users complied, the apps displayed a popup window that said they had been charged a fee. Less than two seconds later, the popup disappeared, but by then it was too late for many users. Anyone with a card linked to their Apple account was already charged.


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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday December 07 2018, @06:48PM (3 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Friday December 07 2018, @06:48PM (#771261)

    Totally agreed.
    To give you an example of why things are complex, Angry Birds was quite harmless when I played it for a while.
    A few months of updates later, I removed it from the tablet, because the amount of advertising had gone totally over the top.

    Like everything in parenting, it's not a teach-and-move-on, but a constant vigilance issue, as the threat evolves and an initial threat assessment is obsolete quicker than our parents ever had to deal with.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Friday December 07 2018, @07:25PM (1 child)

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Friday December 07 2018, @07:25PM (#771269) Journal

    I'd like to see a complete ban on clickable/actionable advertising in all contexts that are intended for the use of children.

    If an ad appears in such a context, it would have to be text, image or animation, nothing more.

    That would at least abstract the action one level away, and allow the parent to control the spending. The child's only option would be to ask the parent to do the spending.

    This is one of those areas where I think that actual regulation is called for.

    --
    So you want children: "Daddy, what does Formatting 90% mean?"

    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday December 07 2018, @08:23PM

      by bob_super (1357) on Friday December 07 2018, @08:23PM (#771292)

      But but but ... Mah First Amendment, you socialist librul regulating commie !!!!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @02:22PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @02:22PM (#771530)

    Education.
    Always disconnect from wifi/net before launching a mobile game.
    install a firewall app.